Passage 1
I am Peter Hodes,a volunteer stem cell courier.Since March 2012,I’ve done 89 trips—of those,51 have been abroad.I have 42 hours to carry stem cells(干细胞) in my little box because I’ve got two ice packs and that’s how long they last.In all,from the time the stem cells are harvested from a donor(捐献者) to the time they can be implanted in the patient,we’ve got 72 hours at most.So I am always conscious of time.
I had one trip last year where I was caught by a hurricane in America.I picked up the stem cells in Providence,Rhode Island,and was meant to fly to Washington then back to London.But when I arrived at the check-in desk at Providence,the lady on the desk said:“Well,I’m really sorry,I’ve got some bad news for you—there are no flights from Washington.”So I took my box and put it on the desk and I said:“In this box are some stem cells that are urgently needed for a patient—please,please,you’ve got to get me back to the United Kingdom.”She just dropped everything.She arranged for a flight on a small plane to be held for me,re-routed(改道) me through Newark and got me back to the UK even earlier than originally scheduled.
For this courier job,you’re consciously aware that in that box you’ve got something that is potentially going to save somebody’s life.
1.Which of the following can replace the underlined word “courier” in Paragraph 1?
A.provider B.delivery man
C.collector D.medical doctor
2.Why does Peter have to complete his trip within 42 hours?
A.He cannot stay away from his job too long.
B.The donor can only wait for that long.
C.The operation needs that much time.
D.The ice won’t last any longer.
3.Which flight did the woman put Peter on first?
A.To London. B.To Newark.
C.To Providence. D.To Washington.
Passage 2
On one of her trips to New York several years ago,Eudora Welty decided to take a couple of New York friends out to dinner.They settled in at a comfortable East Side cafe and within minutes,another customer was approaching their table.
“Hey,aren’t you from Mississippi?” the elegant,white-haired writer remembered being asked by the stranger.“I’m from Mississippi too.”
Without a second thought,the woman joined the Welty party.When her dinner partner showed up,she also pulled up a chair.
“They began telling me all the news of Mississippi,” Welty said.“I didn’t know what my New York friends were thinking.”
Taxis on a rainy New York night are rarer than sunshine.By the time the group got up to leave,it was pouring outside.Welty’s new friends immediately sent a waiter to find a cab.Heading back downtown toward her hotel,her big-city friends were amazed at the turn of events that had changed their Big Apple dinner into a Mississippi state reunion(团聚).
“My friend said:‘Now we believe your stories,’”Welty added.“And I said:‘Now you know.These are the people that make me write them.’”
Sitting on a sofa in her room,Welty,a slim figure in a simple gray dress,looked pleased with this explanation.
“I don’t make them up,” she said of the characters in her fiction these last 50 or so years.“I don’t have to.”
Beauticians,bartenders,piano players and people with purple hats,Welty’s people come from afternoons spent visiting with old friends,from walks through the streets of her native Jackson,Miss.,from conversations overheard on a bus.It annoys Welty that,at 78,her left ear has now given out.Sometimes,sitting on a bus or a train,she hears only a fragment(片段)of a particularly interesting story.
1.What happened when Welty was with her friends at the cafe?
A.Two strangers joined her.
B.Her childhood friends came in.
C.A heavy rain ruined the dinner.
D.Some people held a party there.
2.The underlined word “them” in Paragraph 6 refers to Welty’s .
A.readers B.parties
C.friends D.stories
3.What can we learn about the characters in Welty’s fiction?
A.They live in big cities.
B.They are mostly women.
C.They come from real life.
D.They are pleasure seekers.
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